Education and training of morphology for medical students, and professionals specializing
in pediatric cardiology and surgery has traditionally been based on hands-on encounter
with congenitally malformed cardiac specimens. Large international archives are no
longer widely available due to stricter data protection rules, a reduced number of
autopsies, attrition rate of existing specimens, and most importantly due to a higher
survival rate of patients. Our Cardiac Archive houses about 400 cardiac specimens
with congenital heart disease. The collection spans almost 60 years and thus goes
back to pre-surgical era. Unfortunately, attrition rate due to desiccation has led
to an increased natural decay in recent years. The present multi-institutional project
focuses on saving the collection by digitization. Specimens are scanned by high-resolution
micro-CT/MRI. Virtual 3D-models are segmented and a comprehensive database is built.
We now report an initial feasibility study with six test specimens that provided promising
results, however, adequate presentation of the intracardiac anatomy, including septa
and cardiac valves requires further refinements. Computer assisted design methods
are necessary to overcome consequences of pathological examination, shrinkage and/or
distortion of the specimens. For a next step, we anticipate an expandable web-based
virtual museum with interactive reference and training tools. Web access for professional
third parties will be provided by registration/subscription. In a future phase, segmental
wall motion data could be added to virtual models. 3D-printed models may replace actual
specimens and serve as hands-on surgical training to elucidate complex morphologies,
promote surgical emulation, and extract more accurate procedural knowledge based on
such a collection.
